The Football League has introduced a new quality standard for clubs called 'The Football League Family Charter Mark'. The new award will be presented to clubs that expand their supporter base by delivering consistently excellent experiences for families and young supporters at their grounds.

This new initiative forms the latest part of The League's 'Fans of the Future' initiative, its first centrally co-ordinated attendance building programme.Launched in September 2005, 'Fans of the Future' aims to encourage the next generation of supporters to watch live football at their local League club and provides a range of innovative ticketing initiatives for families and young fans.

Football League Chairman Lord Mawhinney said: "Through our 'Fans of the Future' initiative we are encouraging the next generation of young fans to watch their local League club.With some success too, so far more than 500,000 youngsters have attended matches for free during the last two seasons.

"The new 'Football League Family Charter Mark' represents a further step forward for The League in terms of recognising and sharing best practice in this area. Those clubs receiving the Charter Mark will have provided a genuine commitment to attracting and retaining family groups to their matches."

In developing the new quality standard, The Football League commissioned an independent assessment of the family experience at 15 League clubs during the 2006/07 season.Further 'Mystery Fan' exercises will now be conducted at all 72 League clubs during the forthcoming season.

These assessments will form part of the criteria used to determine whether clubs qualify for the Charter Mark.Clubs will also be assessed on whether their pricing policies are in line with the spirit of 'Fans of the Future', along with evidence that child protection and safety practices have been implemented.

Additionally, to recognise the best family experience in each division, there will also be a new 'Family Club of the Year' award at this season's Football League Awards (to be held in March 2008) for each division of The Football League.